From Cookie Dough To Cookie
by The Samchel King
Summary: A Samchel fanfic, in which Sam and Blaine move to NY after Nationals. Canon until 5x07 (Puppet Master). It mostly focuses on Sam and Rachel - especially on how she will reach the point where she's ready to date again - but Kurt, Santana, Blaine, Dani and Elliott also show up a lot and have individual plots sometimes.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

**LOS ANGELES**

It was a hot, sunny morning in Los Angeles, much warmer than what the members of the New Directions were used to at home. Sam and Blaine had just finished their breakfast and were walking together back to the boys' room.

"Dude, this is it! Our last Nationals!" Sam said to his best friend and Blaine nodded with a big smile on his face. "I bet you can't wait to go to New York and see Kurt everyday, huh?"

"Yeah, it's going to be great. But how about you? Aren't you going to miss Penny?" Blaine quietly asked him as they entered their room. They stood at the door for two seconds before turning around leaving, Artie quickly wheeling behind them.

"I don't think they'll ever stop arguing about Marley. Whatever, I need to go and find Kitty. See y'all later." He told them before getting inside the elevator. Blaine and Sam shrugged at each other and sat down on the floor.

"Penny…" Sam quietly muttered. "She's awesome, she is. Don't get me wrong. It's just…" He stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"Just what, Sam?" Blaine asked him. "Did something happen?"

"No, I just… I think I stopped seeing her that way, you know?" Blaine nodded understandingly at that, offering his best friend a sympathetic smile.

"I guess sometimes that happens." He said, patting Sam on the shoulder. "But you do know that you have to talk to her about it, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just dreading that moment." Sam sighed.

* * *

**NEW YORK**

Rachel had had a long day and wanted to get home, take a nice shower and go to bed. After a day full of waiting tables and rehearsing for "Funny Girl", she wasn't in the mood for anything other than a calm night. Unfortunately, as she got up from her seat and waited to leave the train, the man next to her had a different idea.

"Hey." He said, his mouth close to her ear. Rachel was startled, as she wasn't paying attention to anything around her. She quickly looked at him and looked away, hoping he'd leave her alone. "Today is really hot, huh?" He continued, ignoring her obvious discomfort. Rachel cursed the train for not moving fast. They were so close to her station! "Yeah, it's really hot… Just like you." He whispered in her ear.

That had been it for Rachel. She slapped his face as the train stopped and the doors opened. With a huff, she stormed out, ignoring the fact that the guy was calling her all sorts of names. Before she knew it, Rachel was crying and entering the loft she shared with her two friends.

"Ugh, thank God you're home, Berry. Lady Hummel here thinks he's better than me at…" Santana stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Rachel was sobbing. "Rachel, what the hell?" She asked, not unkindly.

"Oh, Rachel, what happened?" Kurt hugged Rachel, letting her wet his (very expensive, thank you very much) shirt. She just shook her head, unable to say anything. "Santana, go and make her some tea."

"Oh, no, Hummel, you don't get to boss me around just because your hag is bawling her eyes out. I hug her, you make the damn tea." Santana said, lightly pulling Kurt away from Rachel.

"No, it's okay. Thank you, guys, I don't need tea." Rachel finally said. She let go of her best friend and tried to dry her face with her hands, failing miserably. Kurt and Santana shared a quick concerned look. "I just had a bad day, that's all." She told them, trying to sneak into her bedroom.

"Rachel, come on. We're your friends. Talk to us." Kurt muttered, softly holding her arm. "You can't arrive home like this and expect us to let it go. We care about you. Even if Santana would like to pretend that she doesn't." He added, receiving a glare from her.

"Shut up." Santana told him, leading them to the couch. The three of them sat together, Kurt and Santana waiting for Rachel to say something. When it became obvious she wasn't going to willingly share what had happened, Santana huffed. "Rachel. Just tell us already."

"Santana, give her a few moments." Kurt angrily whispered. Santana rolled her eyes at him, but they sat in silence until Rachel stopped crying. She took a deep breath as she got ready to tell her friends what had happened.

"Okay. So I was about to leave the train when this guy… He…" Rachel stopped, shaking her head and holding back new tears. Kurt took her hand while Santana put hers on Rachel's back, encouraging her to go on. "He hit on me." She finally said, starting to cry again.

"Wait, that's it?" Santana asked, dropping her hand. "A guy hit on you on the train and you cried for thirty minutes?" She demanded. Rachel nodded, unable to speak. "Was he _that_ ugly?"

"No." Rachel weakly sobbed. She took a few deep breaths and managed to stop crying. "I just… I wasn't expecting that. He was actually good-looking, but that's not the point." She said, her voice gaining strength. As her two friends stared expectantly at her, Rachel shook her head again and looked down. "When that guy whispered in my ear, all I could think of was all the times that… That Finn whispered in my ear." She finished, her voice low again. "And I'm not ready for that. I don't want to be ready."

"Rachel." Kurt squeezed the hand he was holding, his voice gentle. "Of course that it'll take you a while to start thinking about dating again, and that's okay." Santana nodded. "You don't have to move on right now, nor next week, nor next month. You can move on when you feel like it's time to do it. Just remember that it's okay to be happy. Finn would've wanted you to live your life." He added in a whisper. Rachel slowly nodded as her friends hugged her.

* * *

**LOS ANGELES**

The New Directions were anxiously waiting for the results after giving an amazing performance. Mr. Schue kept patting them on the back and congratulating them on their good job, while the girls were holding hands and the boys were pacing. Finally, it was time to see the top ten show choirs of the competition.

There were many people in front of them and, before they could check the list themselves, some members of Vocal Adrenaline saw them. Chuckling, they bumped into Unique as they walked away from the crowd.

"Shouldn't have left us, _tranny_." One of them muttered, receiving a couple high-fives from the others.

"Hey!" Jake and Ryder shouted together, their argument about Marley momentarily forgotten as they shared a look of understanding and got ready to defend their friend.

"Guys!" Mr. Schue yelled, trying in vain to hold them back.

"It's okay, just let it go." Unique whispered as Marley held her hand and Kitty glared at the boys from Vocal Adrenaline.

"Come on, guys, you helped me with my proposal, I thought we were all friends." Blaine said, trying to get everybody to calm down. Sam stood next to him, nodding in agreement, but also ready to jump into action if necessary.

"Whatever." They said, walking away. The New Directions stood in silence, watching them leave, until Mr. Schue cleared his throat and announced that he was going to check the list. They didn't say anything as their teacher started making his way to the front. When he came without a smile, they looked down.

"I… I'm sorry, you guys. You really did an amazing job out there." Mr. Schue told them. They slowly started going back to their hotel, without saying anything. Blaine was holding Tina's hand while taking his phone from his pocket.

"I should probably call Kurt and tell him the news." He said quietly. Tina nodded, clearly not in the mood for much talking. As he waited for his fiancé to answer the call, Blaine looked around, watching his teammates. Kitty had one hand on Artie's shoulder, while her other hand was holding Unique's left hand. Unique had her right arm around Marley, who was silently crying. Jake and Ryder were walking side by side, without exchanging any words or looks.

"Blaine!" Kurt's voice caught his attention. "Sooo… How did it go?" He asked. Blaine sighed in response. "Oh… Don't tell me that you guys…" There was a pause and neither of them said anything for a few seconds.

"We didn't rank." Blaine finally told him. "I mean, we were amazing and it was really fun, but… I guess it just wasn't good enough." He finished in a whisper, afraid of offending the others. "Anyway, we're going back to the hotel now and I think we'll be going back to Lima tomorrow."

"Blaine, I'm so sorry." Kurt kindly said, worried about his fiancé. "I'm sure you were really great, I wish I could've been there to see you… And to give you a hug now." Blaine nodded, wishing Kurt really could've been there. "I guess today was a bad day for everybody. Rachel cried for half an hour today."

"What, why?" Blaine asked, concerned about his friend. "Did something happen? I mean, of course something happened… I just… Is she okay?" Tina, who had been vacantly staring at the air until then, looked at him, silently asking him what was going on.

"Oh, she's going to be fine. A douchebag on the train hit on her and she got really uncomfortable, it made her think… It made her think of Finn." Kurt replied, his voice lower than earlier. "Anyway, Rachel got home crying as if she had lost her voice again, and Santana and I were in the middle of a discussion, so it was a little messy. She's sleeping now."

"I hope Rachel gets better soon." Blaine said, Tina still waiting for an explanation. "Listen, I gotta go, I need to calm Sam down… He's not looking forward to going back to Lima. He's going to break up with Penny." He added in a whisper. Tina gasped.

"Oh, wow, yikes. Okay, but call me before you go to bed?" Kurt asked.

"Of course. I love you."

"Love you too. Take care."

* * *

**LIMA**

Sam was nervous. He was very nervous, actually. Blaine had helped him prepare a speech and they even had asked Tina to play Penny, which didn't turn out too well when Tina thought that slapping Sam would be Penny's reaction, but he didn't feel like he was ready for it. Sam was about to find Blaine and tell him he had forgotten everything they had rehearsed when Penny saw him on the corridor.

"There you are!" She said with a big smile. Sam awkwardly smiled back and, when she tried to kiss him, he hugged her instead.

"So, hey." Sam muttered. "Listen. Uh, can we… Can we talk?" He asked her when he let her go. Penny's smile left her face and she quietly nodded. They walked together to her office and Sam couldn't remember a more awkward moment than that in his life.

"Sam. What's going on?" Penny finally asked when she noticed that Sam was stalling and looking anywhere but her. He took a deep breath and finally met her gaze.

"I'm sorry, I'm just… I'm nervous." He told her, deciding that being honest was the only way to do it. "Listen, Penny. I like you. I really do. I just… I'm not sure what happened, or how it happened… Or when it happened. But I don't think I like… like you anymore." Sam finished with a gentle whisper and an apologetic look on his face.

"Oh." She replied. "I… I see."

"I'm sorry, Penny, I really am." He tried to say, but she raised her hand, stopping him.

"I just don't understand why." She told him, looking for a reason. Sam nodded, and then looked away.

"Neither do I." He slowly replied, deep in thought.

* * *

**NEW YORK**

Pamela Lansbury had just finished an amazing concert and the five singers were laughing and hugging each other as they left the stage. Kurt was holding Rachel's hand as they found a table. Elliott told them he'd buy them drinks and left while Dani and Santana sat next to each other.

"That was awesome!" Dani shouted over the noise of the bar. Elliott quickly came back and they started planning their next concert. Once that was done, Kurt turned to Rachel and asked her in a lower voice so that nobody else could hear him.

"How are you? Are you still upset about yesterday?" She nodded, her smile not so wide anymore. "Rachel, you can talk to me, you know that." He told her and she squeezed his hand in response.

"I know, and thank you so much for being my best friend, Kurt." She replied. "I am definitely better. I just needed some time to process what happened." Rachel said, deliberating on her next words. However, Elliott called them and announced he had something to say.

"Okay, Pamela Lansbury! Two weeks from now, my gorgeous boyfriend is going to throw a big party and I demand that you four show up!" He yelled, a little drunk. The others laughed.

"Of course we'll be there!" Santana told him.

"Oh, and Blaine and Sam might be here already, so we can take them with us!" Kurt happily added.

"Sounds like a plan!" Rachel agreed and they all cheered.

* * *

**AN****:** First chapter done! There'll be another five chapters (maybe four, maybe six), so it won't be a long story... it'll mostly focus on Sam and Rachel, especially Rachel and how she gets to the point where she's ready to date again. But the others will have a few individual plots here and there. Hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**LIMA**

After Nationals, Sam and Blaine were only looking forward to two things: graduation and moving to New York. The first event had come faster than they had thought it would and, before they knew it, they were already packing their bags. They were currently at Sam's bedroom, Sam trying to take everything he owned with him, and Blaine trying to help his friend understand that no, there would be no room for his comic books collection in the loft.

"Sam, trust me. Once we find a place for us, your parents can send everything to you." Blaine told him for what felt like the hundredth time. Sam sighed in response and sat down on his bed, a look of frustration on his face. "I'm sorry, Sam, I didn't mean to…"

"No, dude, it's not you." Sam interrupted him, his voice gentle. "I'm just nervous. You know when we went to New York and Rachel helped me with the photoshoot?" He asked his friend. Blaine nodded as he sat next to Sam. "Well, this weird… Thing happened. She was oiling my chest…" Blaine blinked a few times to make sure he had heard that right. "And then, I don't know, there it was. It happened again, after we finished singing. It just happened. We were looking at each other and it was suddenly awkward and I didn't want to let her go and did I mention that it was really awkward?" Sam finished, speaking faster and faster, until his voice sounded a few octaves higher than usual.

"Whoa, okay, Sam, calm down." Blaine said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "So what you're saying is that you shared two moments with Rachel?" Sam nodded, still breathing fast. "Sam? Do you have a crush on Rachel?" He asked, a small, but definitely teasing smile on his face.

"Dude, it's not funny!" Sam told him and he stood up, while Blaine chuckled. "It really isn't, okay? She was Finn's girlfriend!" He said, and Blaine got serious. As they didn't say anything for a few seconds, Sam began to put his clothes in one of his bags again in silence.

"I'm sorry, Sam." Blaine quietly murmured after some minutes. "You're right, it's not funny. In fact, Kurt told me that Rachel was really upset after a guy hit on her a couple weeks ago." Sam stopped what he was doing and looked at his friend. "Look, whatever it is that happened between you guys… Maybe it was just that. She needs time right now." He gently said.

"I know. And I don't even know if… You know. Which is why I don't know if it's a good thing for me to go." Sam threw the shirt he was holding on the floor. "Maybe I should stay here for now. Until I know for sure." He added, but Blaine was already shaking his head.

"No, listen to me. We're going together. And we'll find a place for us soon, trust me." He told Sam. "Rachel is your friend too, you can't avoid her. But if you really do have feelings for her, I'm here. You can talk to me. We'll figure this out."

* * *

**NEW YORK**

"You are finally here!" Kurt shouted as Blaine and Sam arrived at the loft. While Blaine and Kurt kissed and told each other how much they had missed each other, Santana shook her head and started complaining about loud gay sex and boundaries as she went to the kitchen to drink something. Rachel chuckled and looked at Sam, an easy smile on her face. "Let's get you settled in. And I heard that, Santana!" Kurt said as he took one of Blaine's bags and made his way to his bedroom. Blaine sent a questioning look at Sam, who smiled and nodded.

"I'll get the couch ready here, don't worry about me." He told his friend. Rachel hugged Blaine before he went to Kurt's room, which gave Sam enough time to open his two bags. Once he was done, he looked around the living room, looking for a place to put his things. He found Rachel, carrying a few sheets and a pillow.

"Sorry… I'm afraid we haven't improved our… "guest room" since the last time you were here." She said, pointing at the couch. Sam chuckled and he realised he had no reason to feel nervous around her. "But I brought you these. I can help you with them, if you want me to." Rachel offered, an easy smile on her face.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome. Thanks, Rachel." He smiled back. Soon, Sam's "bed" was ready and, while he would be the first one to admit that it wasn't as good as a real bed, the couch was pretty comfortable. "So, Blaine mentioned a party tonight?"

"Oh, right! Elliott's boyfriend is throwing a party and he invited us!" Rachel replied, and her enthusiasm couldn't be more obvious. "We've actually never met him, which I think is weird, because I mean, why wouldn't he go to our concerts to support his boyfriend, right?" She rambled, and Sam just nodded, unsure if she was even aware that she was talking at him, and not to him. Whatever it was, Sam found himself thinking that the way she moved her hands and the fact that she talked without taking a break to breathe – how was that even possible? – were simply adorable. "Anyway, his name is Greg and we're meeting him tonight." Rachel finished her rant, apparently having accepted the fact that Greg had never been at any of their concerts before.

"Well, maybe you should tell Greg to be there next time." Sam jokingly said. Rachel gave him one look that told him she was taking his idea seriously. Before he could say anything else, she was already nodding and making her way to her room, muttering under her breath what sounded like a speech that she was planning to say to Greg.

* * *

They had just gotten to Greg's apartment and they could barely hear each other. The music was so loud that Rachel was wondering if the neighbours wouldn't complain, or if there'd be damage to her perfect hearing. With that terrifying thought in mind, she quickly made her way to the stereo and slowly turned down the volume. Nobody seemed to care, or notice, what she had done, and so, with a proud smile on her face, Rachel walked back to where her friends were.

"Oh, there she is!" Elliott said, pointing at Rachel. "This is the future Fanny Brice!" He announced. "And this is Greg!" He pointed at the young man next to him. Rachel smiled at him, while Blaine and Kurt started dancing together. "Right, let's dance, yeah!" Elliott shouted, clearly a little tipsy.

"I'm shocked!" Sam told Rachel, as they watched their friends dancing. "I thought you were going to tell that Greg dude to never miss one of your concerts ever again." He explained, smiling. Rachel smiled back.

"The night has just begun, Sam. I have time." She replied, winking. She laughed and joined Kurt, Blaine, Santana and Dani while he watched. Sam was about to do the same when someone held his arm. He turned his head to look who it was. It was a girl, a very pretty and slightly drunk girl.

"Hi." She said, her hands squeezing his arms. "What's your name? I'm Ashley." She told him, her hands moving from his arms to his chest. "You're hot, you know that?"

"Oh, uh… Thanks?" Sam muttered, feeling somewhat uncomfortable by the fact that a stranger was groping him. "Listen, I have to go and hang out with my friends now, so… I'll see you later, Ashley." As he walked away from her, he missed the look on Rachel's face, who had been watching the scene from not too far. Dani, however, hadn't missed it.

* * *

As people started leaving, Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Dani and Sam agreed to stay and help Elliott and Greg clean the place. Rachel was still wondering how it was possible that nobody had complained about the noise, but quickly decided that it didn't matter. She just wanted to go home and sleep, since she had an early shift the next day at Spotlight Diner.

"Ugh, this is so heavy!" Dani complained as she tried to lift a trash bag on her own. "Hey, Rachel, can you help me take this out?" She asked. Rachel nodded and soon they were outside. After they put the trash bag where it was supposed to be, Dani looked up and they found themselves gazing at the stars.

"New York." Rachel quietly sighed. "This is where I belong. I know it." She said, her voice a bit louder. Dani nodded.

"I know the feeling. I don't see myself living anywhere else. New York is… It's home." She finished. Rachel smiled at those words. "So. Do you like Sam or what?" Dani suddenly and bluntly asked. Rachel gasped.

"What? Sam is my _friend_, Dani!" She exclaimed, shaking her head, while her voice sounded higher than usual. "_Just_ a friend." Rachel added, still looking at Dani as if she had lost her mind. Dani didn't seem to mind the look she was receiving.

"Are you sure? So you weren't bothered by that girl touching his abs earlier tonight?" She asked, keeping her eyes on Rachel's face. When the first thing Rachel did was bite her lips, Dani smiled. "I knew it!"

"Okay, fine!" Rachel told her. "But you can't tell Santana." She added. Dani shrugged, which was enough for Rachel. "It bothered me, yes. I don't know why. Don't give me that look, it's just… It's new. Whatever this is. And it's confusing. I don't even know if it's real. I don't even know if I want to feel it." She finished, her voice suddenly very low.

"Right, your ex…" Dani muttered, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Santana told me, I'm sorry." She said. Rachel nodded her thanks, unable to reply with words. "Look, I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you that I know how you feel. I don't. But whatever it is that you're feeling? You have every right to feel it. And you have every right to be scared. Just remember that taking things slow is an option." Dani finished by giving Rachel a hug. "Now come on, let's get back there before Santana starts thinking that your crazy ramblings have driven me away forever."

"Hey!" Rachel shouted.

* * *

Rachel was trying to sleep. And failing miserably. For once in her life, it wasn't her hyperactive mind, which was always filled with many ideas for amazing, flawless performances, that was keeping her awake. Rachel wished it was, but it was not. It was her two roommates, who were spending some quality time with their partners. Rachel was starting to wonder if there was an unspoken competition going on between the two couples. She rolled her eyes. Knowing Kurt and Santana, _of course _they were trying to outsex each other. Giving up on her beauty sleep - oh, there'd be hell to pay tomorrow, she'd make sure of it – Rachel got up, put on some sweatpants and a light jacket. If she wasn't going to get any sleep, she might as well enjoy the night.

"Oh, hey." A voice startled her. Turning around as fast as she could, she saw Sam in the kitchen, holding a glass of water. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just… I couldn't sleep." He said, gesturing his head at Santana's bedroom after a particularly loud moan came from there.

"Yeah, same here…" Rachel nodded, clearing her throat to ignore the '_oh, Blaine!_' that had followed Santana's moan. "I was thinking about going out for a walk and let them have the loft for themselves." She told him. When Sam didn't invite himself, clearly giving her the option to whether or not she wanted some company, Rachel smiled. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Oh, thank you!" He exclaimed, running to put some shoes on. "Don't get me wrong, I love them, but…"

"Yes, Santana, _yes_!"

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Rachel told him, opening the door.

* * *

It was still dark, but there were many cars and people on the streets already. Rachel loved how, no matter what time it was, there was always someone going somewhere. It made her feel alive, and she couldn't help but appreciate everything around her. Sam was still amused by New York. He had always lived in somewhat small towns, and suddenly, there he was. His official first night as a New Yorker.

"So… Did you like the party?" Rachel quietly asked him. "I mean, it was your first party in New York. Wait. It was your first night in New York!" She exclaimed, as if she couldn't believe it. Sam chuckled. "We should've thrown a big party for you and Blaine tonight instead of going out! I'm so sorry, Sam, I didn't even think of that!" He realised she was too close to having a panic attack, so he lightly touched her arm. It was enough to get her to stop talking.

"I loved the party, Rachel. I don't need to have a huge party thrown because I'm here. Seriously." Sam assured her with a smile. She nodded, but he could tell she was still upset about it. "I'll let you throw a big party for me when I get a job, how about that?" He offered.

"That's a given, Sam." Rachel replied as she rolled her eyes at him, but she smiled when he bumped his shoulder on hers. "Well, I should've known you liked tonight's party. Unless I'm mistaken, and I rarely am, I saw a girl getting to know you a little too well." She said, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh, you mean Ashley." Sam told her, and he found that he didn't feel comfortable looking at Rachel while talking about what had happened that night, so he focused on a particularly bright billboard as they kept walking. "Yeah, that was… That was awkward." He muttered.

"How so? She seemed pretty. From where I was standing, I mean. Not that I was watching too closely." Rachel said, wanting to slap herself. However, Sam didn't seem to have picked up on her nervousness. In fact, she noticed that he was looking at the opposite direction.

"She was, yeah." Sam conceded after some seconds. He thought about why he had felt so uncomfortable when Ashley hit on him. At first, he just assumed that maybe it was too soon after his break-up with Penny. But, as he turned his face to finally look at Rachel, it suddenly hit him that he'd have been okay with what had happened if it had been with her. "Uh…" He started, not knowing what to say. "I just…" Rachel gave him a concerned look and he realised that not only was he stuttering, but his face was probably as red as a tomato. Sam took a deep breath and looked away. "I just broke up with someone. I guess I'm just not ready for that yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Rachel told him as she touched his shoulder for a few moments. "I didn't even know you were seeing someone. After Brittany, I mean." She paused. "I'm sorry things didn't work out with you and Brittany either." Rachel quietly added.

"Thanks." Sam replied. "Her name was Penny, she was the school nurse." He explained. "I was really into her when I first met her, you know?" Rachel nodded, encouraging him to talk to her. "And then… I guess I just wasn't anymore." He finished, unsure of how to put into words what had happened. "It was just gone."

"I'm sorry." Rachel repeated, patting him on the back a couple of times.

"It's okay. Maybe I do need some time for myself." Sam said. "I mean…, Penny, Brittany, Mercedes, Gwen, Santana, Quinn…" He listed as he shook his head. "I keep going from one relationship to another. Don't get me wrong." He quickly added. "I don't regret any of them, they were all good in one way or another… I just… I haven't had much time for myself." Sam told Rachel.

"Gwen?" She asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, yeah. It's a girl I met in Kentucky." He answered with a nod. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all this." He said, shaking his head.

"No, don't. I'm glad you are." Rachel told him. He looked at her. "I'm glad we're talking." She clarified, and they shared a smile. "It's what friends do, right?"

"It is." He agreed, keeping the smile on his face until after they were back in the loft. Becoming friends with Rachel Berry, despite what people had told him when he first joined Glee club, was actually one of the best things Sam had ever done.

* * *

**AN:** And here's chapter two! Next chapter should up tomorrow or on Thursday... and it should also be a bit longer than this. There'll be much more Kurt and Santana on it, for anyone that's interested! Thank you all for the reviews/favs/follows! It means a lot!


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

It wasn't too late in the morning, but Sam and Blaine had woken up to an empty loft, as Rachel, Kurt and Santana had gone to work quite early. The boys had deliberated over whether or not they should go to the Spotlight Diner for breakfast, but they were hit by the sudden realization that they were too hungry and that they couldn't wait. Sam had quickly made some scrambled eggs and a few pancakes for the two of them.

"Oh, wow, Sam!" Blaine exclaimed, sounding surprised. "This is great!"

"Dude, it's just eggs and pancakes." Sam replied with a chuckle. "I used to make those all the time for my siblings. You're probably so hungry that anything would've been the best thing ever."

"Maybe…" Blaine conceded. "But this really is good." He quickly added after another bite. Sam just shrugged as he also started eating. Soon, they were on the street, discussing their plans for the future.

"All I'm saying is that I love you and I love Kurt and I love you two together, but if we're all going to live together, you guys gotta at least warn the rest of us before you go all…"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Blaine interrupted Sam. "I didn't notice we were being _that_ loud…" He added under his breath. "Anyway, what we need to do is look for a place for ourselves. We can't live in their loft forever."

"Yeah, I don't get that. You guys are engaged, shouldn't you be, like… Living together?" Sam asked his best friend. "I mean, don't get me wrong, there's no room for me there, I'm really not sure at all if I should be living with Rachel and I can't wait to sleep in a real bed, but… Blaine, have you talked to Kurt about this?"

"I know that I'll spend the rest of my life with him and I want Kurt and I to get married as soon as possible." Blaine slowly answered and Sam nodded. "I just want to figure out what I'm going to do first, you know? I want to go to NYADA, start auditioning for roles and see what happens. Does that make me selfish?" He quietly asked.

"No, man. It's good, this is good." Sam patted him on the back. "You gotta think about everything, not just Kurt. The two of you… You'll always be together. I know it, you know it, he knows it… We all know it. So it's cool that you want to focus on you too."

"Thanks, Sam. Okay, so! How about we get ourselves… Jobs? Just for the summer, I mean." Blaine suggested, clearly enthusiastic about it. Sam chuckled at his friend's eagerness. "It might be good to have some experience, and it can't hurt to have some extra money."

"Nah, you're right. But first, there's something I have to do." Sam told Blaine. When he got a questioning look in response, he smirked. "It's time to get rid of all this hair."

* * *

Santana had had a very good night with her girlfriend, Dani, and they had totally won their sex battle against Lady Hummel and his pretty pony fiancé - as if there could ever be a real competition there anyway - but having to wake up early to wait tables had gotten her in a pretty bad mood.

"Finally this shift is over. Not even Lima Heights is this bad." Santana said to herself. "Hey, baby. What are you doing now?" She asked Dani when they met at the door.

"I was thinking about getting some sleep… Since we didn't get any last night." Dani added with a wink. Santana chuckled as they held hands and walked together to Dani's place. "Something happened yesterday. With Rachel." She quietly told Santana.

"Oh, great. What did Berry do now? Did she try to teach you how to fully know your range and improve your vibrato? I swear to God, if she ever tries to pull that one with me again, I'm going to…"

"No, no, it wasn't that." Dani interrupted Santana, an amused look on her face. Sometimes she wondered how the three people living in the loft managed to be friends while arguing all the time. It was quite the mystery. "I found out something. Something very juicy."

"Do tell." Santana said when Dani made a very dramatic pause. She was definitely interested in wherever the conversation was going. When Dani smirked a little, clearly enjoying the fact that she knew something that she didn't, Santana rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. What could be so juicy about the hobbit?"

"Well… How about the fact that she may have a little crush on someone?" Dani replied, the smirk still on her face. Santana gasped.

"I knew it! I knew it! Of course I did! I could tell that they wanted to swallow each other with their huge mouths and have annoying babies with lips as big as their faces when they were dancing to that damn Billy Joel song! I could feel it, I even had to take a shower afterwards because it was like watching two people with no ability to move their limbs in sync have very bad sex!" Santana rambled. Dani hadn't really understood what her girlfriend was talking about, but she had given up long ago on figuring out where her insults came from.

"Right…" She slowly said, unsure if Santana was done with her rant. "Anyway, Rachel got jealous that a random girl was touching Sam's arms or something, but she doesn't want you to know and she doesn't want to be in a relationship because it's too soon." Dani quickly told Santana, who nodded at this piece of information.

"I see..." Santana muttered, deep in thought.

* * *

"Rachel!" Kurt called his best friend's name as soon as their shift was over. "I just saw Dani and Santana leaving, so I guess it's just the two of us for now and we'll meet Santana at home." He told Rachel while she folder her apron.

"Sounds good to me. Unless you're planning on another sex competition against them." She replied, teasing Kurt. He chose to simply roll his eyes, but Rachel could see that his cheeks had turned red. "Our neighbours are probably traumatized for life."

"Rachel, we live in Bushwick. _**I**_ am traumatized for life whenever I get on the train." Kurt told her and she lightly slapped his arm in response. "Fine, fine, it's actually not as bad as people say it is. But you have to admit that the crazy guy who lives across the street is creepy."

"Oh, yeah. Did you notice that he bought new binoculars? I know I'm a very interesting person to watch, it's my obvious talent as a performer that does it, but we need better curtains." Rachel said and Kurt shook his head.

"Oh, honey… I think the new binoculars are for Santana and Dani and their quality time." He kindly informed his best friend. When Rachel gasped, sounding both surprised and offended, Kurt quickly put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "But I agree, we do need better curtains. We could go looking for some now."

"Oh, so you don't want to go home and see Blaine?" Rachel asked him, once again clearly teasing him. Kurt huffed.

"I get it, we were too loud last night, you don't have to remind me every two minutes." He told her in almost an annoyed tone, but when Rachel smirked at him, Kurt smirked back and soon they were laughing together. "Anyway, Blaine's not home. He and Sam are looking for jobs today."

"Already? That's really good." Rachel said. When she open her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and ended up saying nothing more, Kurt raised an eyebrow, wondering what it could possibly have made his usually very talkative friend stay quiet and keep something to herself.

"What is it?" He asked her. "Come on, Rachel, spit it out."

"Fine. It's nothing important. I was just thinking about Sam." She muttered. Kurt gasped and she looked at him, shaking her head. "Oh, no, not like that." Rachel added, not quite meeting her friend's gaze. "He wants to be a model, you work at Vogue, maybe you could find me some contacts, you know… People that could help Sam." She explained. Kurt stared at her for a few seconds in silence.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do." He finally replied, making a mental note about the fact that Rachel had asked him to find people that could help Sam and pass the information to _her_, and not directly to their mutual friend.

* * *

"I cannot believe you two bought curtains without me. I'm the only one with good taste here." Santana said. Kurt shrugged while Rachel simply announced she was going to take a shower. "Seriously, this is not okay. Don't I have a say on what we buy for our loft?"

"Santana, it's just some curtains." Kurt replied. He gestured for her to stay quiet and they waited for Rachel to begin singing her shower playlist. As soon as the first words of Celine's 'Let's Talk About Love' started being sung, Kurt took Santana's hand and dragged her to the couch. "We need to talk about something."

"About something that involves Rachel having a crush on Trouty Mouth?" Santana asked. Kurt's eyes widened in response. "Dani told me that Rachel confessed to her about it." She clarified.

"She told Dani before telling _us_?" Kurt shrieked, clearly offended. Santana nodded. "Oh, that little diva, I can't believe she has the nerve of calling me her best friend and then…" He quickly shook the thought away and took a deep breath. "Not the point. The point is that she's just not ready for those feelings yet. Santana, I'm worried." He finished, his voice very serious.

"Me too." She replied with a sigh. "Look, we don't even know if Sam is into Rachel, so let's not freak out about this. And you said it yourself, she's not ready for this, so she's not going to do anything about it. Let's give her some time to sort everything out and, you know… When she's ready to talk, we can help her and mock her for liking Trouty Mouth out of all the people in the world." She finished and Kurt nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." He said as he stood up and started making his way to the kitchen. "And don't you think, even for a second, that I forgot you dated Sam, Santana!" He added, grinning.

"Oh, shut up, Lizzie Hummel!"

* * *

Later that day, the five former Glee club members were making dinner together while singing and dancing around. Kurt and Santana kept sharing knowing looks whenever Sam and Rachel were anywhere close to each other, which soon got old once they realised their friends weren't about to start making out in the middle of the kitchen.

"Okay, guys! Sam and I have an announcement to make!" Blaine told them when he finished setting the table. Rachel, Kurt and Santana quickly sat down and waited for the big news as Sam joined Blaine and they stood side by side. "After Sam got his haircut, we ran into a music store two blocks from here… And they were hiring, sooo… We now work there!" He shouted and the others cheered.

"Yeah, the pay is really bad, but it's just for the summer." Sam quickly explained. "I mean, our parents are going to help us with the rent once we finally get a place for us, so this is mostly for some extra cash."

"Yes, and that reminds me! Don't worry about us getting in your way. We'll start looking for an apartment tomorrow." Blaine assured them.

"Wait, you're… You're leaving?" Kurt asked, the smile on his face suddenly gone. "I just, I thought we would share the loft for now, you know, to see how it'd be to live together for when we get married." He muttered.

"Well, this is awkward, so I'll finish my dinner while I watch TV." Santana said, standing up and taking her plate with her. Sam and Rachel nodded at each other and quickly followed her.

"Kurt, I'm… I'm sorry, you know I want to live with you. But for now, this might not be the best idea. There's barely enough room for you, Rachel and Santana." Blaine told his fiancé. "And I mean, one bathroom for five people isn't really practical and Sam is sleeping on the couch." He added.

"We can kick Santana out and Sam can have her room." Kurt half-heartedly suggested, followed by a defeated sigh. "I get it. I just… I don't want you to leave."

"I'm not leaving. I told you once that I'd never say goodbye to you and I meant it. We'll see each other everyday, I promise you." Blaine said, holding Kurt's hand. "I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too." He replied, still sad.

"I'm glad you love each other and all, but next time you threaten to kick me out, Hummel, I'll go all Lima Heights on your white ass!" Santana shouted from the living room while checking her phone. Before they could say anything else, she cursed.

"Jeez, Santana. There was no need for that." Kurt said.

"It's not that." She muttered. "It's this Chloe girl posting on Dani's wall. She says she's arriving in New York tonight and can't wait to see Dani. Who the hell is this slut?" Santana asked them. When nobody answered her, she continued to check the girl's profile. "Oh, no, no, no. They used to date. This is bad."

"Chloe is about to find out what Lima Heights means." Kurt whispered to his fiancé. Blaine nodded, but he wasn't paying much attention to what was happening around him. He had thought that living with Sam for a while wouldn't affect his engagement, but after seeing Kurt's reaction, he wasn't sure what to do.

* * *

That night, while everybody was sleeping, Blaine went to the fire escape stairs to get some air and think about what he was going to do. He was looking down at the streets, not really seeing the cars, without being able to focus on anything. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around to find Santana there.

"Couldn't sleep either?" She asked him. Blaine nodded and she sighed. "You and Kurt have a good relationship, right?" He nodded again, wondering where that conversation was going. "So you trust him." Santana stated, but Blaine could tell it was a question.

"Of course." He replied, and Santana sighed one more time. "Santana, is this about that Facebook girl?" He gently asked her. When she didn't say anything, he assumed he was right. "Listen, I understand why you're scared, but maybe you should talk to Dani before believing that this is it for you two. I mean, you're still friends with Brittany, but that doesn't mean that you'd cheat on Dani with her if she came to visit you… Right?" He finished, suddenly not so sure. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Of course that's right." She paused, deliberating whether or not to share her thoughts with Blaine. Finally, she shrugged, deciding that she had nothing to lose. "I just… We have a good thing going on and I don't want to lose that. I'm happy with Dani, and she seems happy to be with me."

"She definitely _sounded_ happy last night." He said, with a smirk and a wink. Santana lightly pushed him, making him laugh. "What, I'm just saying!"

"Yeah, well, you sounded pretty happy too, and yet you're leaving your fiancé to share a place with your BFF, what's up with that?" Santana asked him while raising an eyebrow. It was Blaine's time to sigh. "Trouble in paradise?"

"No, not at all. I promised Sam that we'd do this together, you know, the whole move out to a big city thing. It'd be selfish to make him sleep in the living room just so that I can be with Kurt every night." He slowly replied, knowing that he couldn't tell Santana how confused Sam was about his feelings for Rachel. "And I mean, you have to agree that this loft wasn't made for five people."

"True that." Santana said. As they watched the cars below, she added under her breath: "I guess we're both screwed, huh?"

* * *

**AN:** So... that took a while... sorry! Real life and writer's block aren't very helpful, I'm afraid. But we're now halfway through the story and it's time to start developing the other relationships/friendships, so it's about to get fun!


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Kurt was exhausted. He had done way too much work that day and it wasn't even close to being over. After a very long dance class, he had gone to Vogue and he still had a very late shift at the Spotlight Diner. However, he had succeed in finding someone he thought that could help Sam and had already texted Rachel all the details. Kurt turned off his computer and stood up, ready to leave.

"Kurt?" Isabelle called him. He turned around, a smile on his face. "Before you go, can I talk to you for a minute? It's important." She told him. Kurt nodded and followed her, wondering if he had done something wrong, especially because Isabelle looked extremely serious. "Please, sit." She said once they entered her office.

"Isabelle, is everything okay?" He asked her. To his relief, she smiled.

"Oh, yes, yes. It's actually more than okay, Kurt." And she grinned. Kurt had no idea what was going on, but he smiled back. "I have amazing news!" Isabelle took a folder from her desk. "Do you remember the designs you gave me last month?" He nodded. "Well, people loved them! You have received an offer from the big boss. How do you feel about Paris?" Isabelle asked Kurt.

"Paris?" He repeated. Isabelle's smile grew wider.

"Paris." She confirmed.

* * *

Sam had just gotten home only to find Santana pacing in the living room. He was pretty sure she was muttering in Spanish to herself, and so he planned to quietly go to the bathroom for a shower. However, he hadn't been quiet enough.

"You!" She shouted. "Trouty Mouth!" Sam gulped. "What the hell do I do?" She demanded, making him more confused than before. Without waiting for an answer, she pushed him into the couch. He landed next his pillow and quickly hugged it for support. "Dani just called me!"

"Oh, that's… Santana, that's good, right?" He asked, his voice unsure. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"How? How is that good, tell me!" Santana yelled. Sam wondered if he could get up and run away from her. Probably not. Lima Heights had made Santana too tough, she'd never let him go. "She called me and she said that we need to talk. Right now! I have to go and meet her. To _talk_."

"People do talk to each other, Santana." Sam muttered. She gave him a look that was obviously a threat.

"Don't try to be a smartass." She told him. "You know what this means. Everybody knows what this means. Her ex is in town. She calls me and tells me we need to talk. It's so obvious. Of course she cheated on me. Of course she's dumping me for that bitch."

"Whoa, okay." Sam said, standing up. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Deep breaths, Santana. Deep breaths." Despite the fact that she looked like she wanted to punch him, Santana did what he was telling her to do. "That's good. Now sit." He pointed at the couch. When she sat down, he did the same. "I know it looks bad right now, but you don't know if that's what's really going to happen. Just… Just go there and see what Dani has to say, okay? You're amazing, she'd be dumb to do that to you. And Dani doesn't look like she's dumb." He told her. Santana sighed.

"Fine. Go there. See what she has to say. I can do that." She finally muttered. Sam nodded and she stood up. "Okay. Go. Listen to her." Santana repeated as she opened the door. Before she shut it, Sam heard her add: "And then kill that stupid ex of hers."

"Close enough, I guess." Sam whispered to himself. He sat by himself for a few minutes, wondering if he should make dinner for only himself or check with the others if they'd be home soon. He had just taken his phone and was about to send a text message to Blaine when the door opened. "Hey, Rachel."

"Sam, hi!" She smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're here! You'll never guess what happened today!" She told him, clearly happy. "Good thing you're sitting down because…" Rachel made a dramatic pause. Even though Sam was used to it, he couldn't help but think it was adorable. "Kurt got you a great contact! I already called them and you can go there next week!"

"Oh, my God! Rachel, seriously?" Sam asked her, standing up. They hugged, but quickly let each other go. It was about to get awkward, so Sam jumped on the couch. "That is so awesome, thank you!" He shouted while he jumped, making Rachel laugh.

"You can thank me by making me dinner. I swear, your food is amazing." She giggled as he lost balance while jumping and almost fell on the floor. "And also by not getting yourself killed?" She added. Sam saluted her when he stood up and started walking to the kitchen.

"I shall do my best." He told her. "Should I make enough for Blaine, Kurt and Santana too?" Sam asked her. Rachel shrugged.

"I have no idea where Santana is, but Blaine and Kurt are having dinner together tonight. Kurt said he needed to talk to Blaine about something very important." She replied. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, Santana left not too long ago. Dani called her and said they had to talk too. Lots of important conversations going on tonight." He muttered as he started preparing their dinner.

"Well, then I guess it's our job to keep things light." Rachel said. "Unless you also want to have a very important conversation." She added, making Sam's heart beat faster.

"Definitely keep things light." He finally told her. Rachel nodded, seeming somewhat lost in thought. Scared of why and of where it could lead to, Sam quickly thought of a topic to distract her from her thoughts. "So have you talked to Puck lately?"

"Not really. Not since…" Rachel paused. "Not since Finn's memorial." She finished. Sam felt like punching himself. So much for light conversation. "I guess he doesn't have much free time to keep in touch now that he's joined the Air Force." Rachel said. "But maybe no news is good news?" She suggested. Sam nodded.

"You're probably right. I'll ask Jake later and see if he's heard from his brother." He replied. Rachel smiled.

"I don't really know the new Glee club members. Are they nice?" She asked him. It was Sam's time to nod while he turned on the stove.

"Yeah, they are. There's some drama going on right now. Or there was. You know how fast things change there." They both chuckled at that. "But Jake is really cool, and the dude has some amazing moves. Ryder is funny, like… Really funny. Kitty… You need some time to get her, but once you do, she's awesome." Rachel nodded, enjoying how enthusiastic Sam looked while talking about his friends, his smile getting wider and wider. "Marley is the sweetest girl ever, and she's been a good friend to Unique." Then, he got serious. "Unique goes through a lot of bad stuff there." He said quietly. "But she keeps her head high, she knows who she is and that's good enough for her."

"It's really sweet how much you care about your friends, Sam." Rachel finally told him, putting a hand on his arm. He smiled at that.

"Well, if I didn't, they wouldn't be my friends." He winked. "I do miss them a lot. And the others too. You know, Mike, Puck, Artie. Brittany, Mercedes, Tina. Rory, Sugar, Joe. And…" Sam paused, not wanting to say it.

"And Finn." Rachel completed the list for him. "You can say his name around me, you know?" She muttered, her voice low. "I miss him more than I can put it into words, but the last thing I want to do is pretend he didn't exist. He did, Sam. He was our friend. He was my boyfriend. We almost got married. It all happened. The only thing that would hurt me more than…" She stopped talking and Sam noticed that she was crying. He hugged her and let her cry on his shirt while she continued speaking through her tears. "The only thing that would hurt me more than him being gone is pretending that nothing ever happened. I don't want the memories gone, Sam, I don't. I want to always remember him."

"Me too." He nodded. "Finn was the first person there who invited me for anything. One day, he just showed up and took me to the choir room. He made me feel like I belonged there. And he was right." Sam said. They stayed in silence for a few seconds, quietly holding each other. Then, he lightly chuckled. "You know, last year, he told me about the duet competition. I can't believe _you_ actually threw a competition!" Rachel giggled at that, finding comfort in that particular memory.

"It worked, didn't it?" She let him go and stared at his eyes. "You stayed. Our plan worked flawlessly. As expected." Sam offered her a smile.

"Rachel Berry. Mastermind. Comes up with evil plans to keep people in Glee club." He said, clearly teasing her. She slapped his arm.

"Go check on my food." She told him. He laughed, but walked over to the stove. "And it's Rachel _Barbra_ Berry, thank you very much." Rachel added, drying her eyes with her hands.

"In that case, it's Samuel Dwight Evans." Sam replied. "And your macaroni is almost ready, Miss Rachel Barbra Berry. Just a few more minutes now."

"Thank you, Sam." She said, her voice suddenly very serious. He turned around to see her.

"It's just macaroni, Rachel." He muttered, but he knew that was not what she was thanking him for and shook his head before she could say anything else. "I know. I'm scared too. Of forgetting. I think we all are." He paused. "You know, even though talking about him hurts… This was good. Keeping the memories fresh is good."

"It is." Rachel quietly agreed. They didn't say anything else while they waited for the food to be ready. When it finally was, Sam turned off the stove and served them both. "This smells great, Sam. And I'm sorry for not keeping things light tonight." She added.

"We're friends. Friends talk about everything." Sam firmly told her. "We're there for each other, right?" He asked her. Rachel smiled.

"Always." She replied. "Always, Samuel Dwight Evans." Rachel added with a giggle.

"Shut up." But he couldn't stop the chuckle that left his mouth.

* * *

"Thank you for meeting me here." Kurt said when he saw Blaine entering the restaurant. His fiancé smiled before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Of course." He replied. "I missed you all day and I was kind of hoping we'd get some time alone. Just you know, to talk." Blaine muttered. "Sometimes it's hard to talk when we're surrounded by three of our friends."

"I know." Kurt sighed. They found a table and ordered. "Blaine, the reason why I asked you to meet me here… We need to talk." He finally said. Blaine could sense the obvious tension and suddenly got very nervous.

"Kurt, what is it? What happened?" He shook his head. "Is this about me living with Sam? Listen, there's something I have to tell you about that."

"I'm going to Paris." Kurt blurted out. Blaine gasped and was left speechless. "I mean, it's just for two weeks. It's not like we haven't been away for that long before, right?" He chuckled, but he was anxious. Blaine nodded.

"Paris. You're going to Paris for two weeks." He said. "That sounds great, Kurt. How did this happen?" He asked, clearly interested and supportive. Kurt smiled a little, feeling more relaxed.

"Isabelle showed some of my designs around and I guess some of them got a little popular. It's not really a big deal if you're an actual designer, but it's a big deal when you're… Me." Kurt answered, an amused smile on his face. Blaine grinned.

"Kurt, that's really amazing! I'm so happy for you, and so proud too!" He exclaimed, taking Kurt's hands. "Wow, I can't believe this! Congratulations! I'm going to miss you a lot, but this is going to be great for you!"

"I'm so glad you're okay with this." Kurt sighed in relief. Blaine scoffed at that.

"How could I not? Kurt, you'll always support me and I'll always support you. It's how this works." He replied, his voice very serious, and Kurt nodded. Their dishes arrived and they were momentarily distracted.

"Wait." Kurt said after a few minutes. "Did you say you had something to tell me about you living with Sam?" Blaine gulped. "What is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really." He tried to say, but Kurt was already shaking his head at him. "Okay, fine, but you can't tell anybody. Please. It's just… Sam sort of has a crush on… Rachel." Blaine slowly and quietly told Kurt, who gasped.

"No! This cannot be happening!" He shouted, making the other customers look at them. "Blaine, why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Kurt demanded, not as loud as before. Blaine opened his mouth to answer, but he was too late. "What are we going to do now? Don't you see how problematic this is?" Blaine shook his head, clearly thinking that his fiancé was overreacting. "Rachel sort of has a crush on Sam too, but Santana and I weren't going to worry about it because she's not about to make a move on anyone yet, but if Sam has feelings for her, he might make a move on her, and Rachel is just not ready for that."

"Oh." Blaine whispered. Then, he blinked a few times to make sure he had understood everything. "Okay, just… Just hold on a second. Rachel likes Sam? And Sam likes Rachel. But Rachel is still hurt about Finn."

"As I said, extremely problematic." Kurt replied.

"Listen, Sam knows about that. He understands what Finn meant to her. And that's why he almost stayed in Lima. He thought it'd be better to wait until he didn't have to live in the same place as Rachel. I convinced him to come by saying we'd find a place for ourselves as fast as possible."

"Yes, and that's exactly what you're going to do." Kurt told him, his index finger close to Blaine's nose. "Damn. I was hoping to find a way of convincing you to stay in the loft." He whispered, and then he sighed. "I'll definitely miss you once you move out."

"Me too."

* * *

Santana was still cursing while she made her way to Dani's house. Sure, Guppy Lips had calmed her down a little, but she couldn't help but feel nervous about her current situation. The fact that she saw her girlfriend sitting on the stairs, waiting for her and crying didn't help Santana feel much better.

"You're here." Dani sobbed, unable to stand up.

"I see." Santana replied, coldly glaring at her. "So that's it, huh? You know, I expected better from you. Especially the whole crying thing, I mean, do you really think that you're the victim here? Really?" Dani slowly shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" She finally asked, still crying.

"Oh, don't play stupid. I know what you did. What you're doing. Is she there? Is she waiting for you to break up with me so that you can officially be together again?" Santana pointed at the door. Dani stood up, shaking. She seemed the angriest Santana had ever seen her, even though she also seemed devastated.

"Excuse me? I called you here because I need you, no, _needed_ you for your support. And instead of listening to me and being there for me, you get here and start accusing me of what? Cheating on you? Who the hell do you think I am?" Dani exclaimed. She huffed and looked away. "I never thought, not even for a second, about cheating on you. I really just wanted you to sit next to me and tell me that everything's going to be okay. But you know what? Leave. I see now that you're just going to make things worse. And I can't handle worse than this." She turned around and opened the door.

"Wait, Dani, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just thought…" Santana said, trying to hold Dani's arm, but she was pushed away.

"Don't. Just don't." She told Santana before slamming the door.

* * *

Five days later and Santana was still sulking, only leaving home for her shifts at Spotlight Diner. Dani hadn't shown up for work, but if Gunther had noticed the absence of one of his waitress, he hadn't mentioned anything to any of them. Santana was currently on her bed, staring at the wall, singing sad song after sad song.

"Enough, Santana. Get up." Kurt told her as he entered her room. She ignored him. "Get up. Come on. You're taking me to the airport." That caught her attention and she sat up.

"Airport? Is it today already?" Santana asked him, wondering how fast the days had gone by and if she had even taken a shower lately. Kurt nodded. "Do I have to go?" She whined, not wanting to leave her bed.

"Yes. Get up." He said one more time. Santana huffed, rolled her eyes, sighed and muttered something under her breath in Spanish, but thirty minutes later, the five former McKinley students were on their way to the airport. When they finally got there, Elliott and Greg were waiting for them.

"I can't believe you're going to Paris, I'm so jealous!" Greg told Kurt when it was time to say goodbye. "Enjoy the food and the places and everything!"

"Thanks, Greg." Kurt replied. He quickly hugged Greg and Elliott. Then, Sam and Santana. "You take care, diva. I'll be back soon." He whispered while he held Rachel. When he let her go, Kurt looked at Blaine with tears in his eyes.

"Call me when you land?" His fiancé asked. Not trusting himself to speak, Kurt simply nodded before kissing Blaine and hugging him for as long as he could. "You have a great time there, Kurt. I'll be waiting here for you. I love you."

"And I love you." He said, finally letting Blaine go to look him in the eyes. With a final wave at the others, Kurt left.

"Well, that was depressing." Santana muttered as they started walking to the exit. "Just what I needed after getting dumped by Dani."

"Dani dumped you?" Elliott asked her, clearly surprised. "She didn't mention anything when she called me to tell me about her father." He added. That caught Santana's attention and she took his arm.

"What do you mean? What about her father? I thought she didn't talk to her family anymore." She said, looking at him suspiciously. Elliott shared a concerned look with Greg.

"She doesn't know." He whispered to his boyfriend. Then, he turned to Santana. "You don't know. Oh, wow. This is awkward."

"Wait, what happened? We all care about Dani." Rachel told him, and Blaine and Sam nodded their agreement.

"Well… Okay." Elliott finally said after taking a few seconds to decide whether or not he wanted to tell them what he knew. "You're right, Dani doesn't really talk to her family… But her mother called her a few days ago. Her father had a heart attack and he didn't make it." Santana gasped.

"So that's why she called me." She whispered. Rachel quickly hugged her friend when she noticed that Santana had tears streaming down her face. However, Santana was already making plans. She hugged Rachel for a few seconds, then lightly pushed her away, looking at Elliott. "She went home, then?" He nodded. "Okay. I need to get to the loft as fast as possible and pack. I'm going to Detroit."

* * *

**AN:** Angst, angst, angst... I_ know_. And I'm aware I'm not very good at writing angst, but we have to go through it, so here we are! The next chapter will get some of this solved... and also some new angst, oops? Only two chapters left, though, it's almost over already... so I hope you're all enjoying this story!


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

After Santana had left, Rachel, Sam and Blaine went back to the loft and, between songs and laughter, they made some dinner. Then, Rachel made them watch Funny Girl for the fifth time since they had gotten there. While Blaine and Sam had enjoyed it until the third time, they now knew almost all of the lines of the film and they weren't exactly excited about it.

"It's important watch the classics on a regular basis." She told them when she noticed they were close to falling asleep. "How else will you learn from the best actors out there and grow as a performer?"

"You have a point." Sam conceded, standing up. "But all that food made me sleepy. Do you think Santana will mind if I use her bed while she's gone?" Rachel and Blaine shared a look for one second before nodding.

"Probably." They said together. Sam chuckled and shrugged.

"I laugh in the face of danger!" He exclaimed as he left to what they called Santana's room. Before he went inside, though, he turned around and waved at his two friends. "Have a good night."

Rachel and Blaine smiled at that and continued to watch the film. She was always happy to mention all the random trivia she knew about Funny Girl and Barbra, and she was even happier to find that Blaine was genuinely interested in what she had to say. Once it was over, they were both in tears.

"What a masterpiece." Rachel sobbed as she took Blaine's hand and he nodded in agreement.

"I can't wait to see you as Fanny." He replied quietly, trying to dry his eyes with his free hand. Then, Blaine decided it was time to really talk to Rachel about what he knew. "I'm sure Sam can't wait either."

"He's a good friend." She whispered after a few seconds. Blaine noticed she hadn't met his eyes and he smiled a little.

"Yes, he is." He agreed knowingly and lightly squeezed her hand, wanting her to know he would always be there to support her. "Rachel, I know. About how you feel."

They said nothing for what felt like an eternity, but Blaine respected her silence. He was sure that it wasn't an easy thing for Rachel to admit what she was going through. After a while, she sighed and looked up to his face.

"Sam is…" She started, then shook her head. She took a deep breath. "Sam is a great guy." Rachel said. "He's kind and thoughtful. He is a good listener, and you and I both know I like to talk." They chuckled at the same time, but she quickly got serious again. "He can be serious and understanding when you need support, and he can also be silly and make you laugh for hours." Blaine nodded. "And he is the best cook ever." She added with a smile.

"You got that right." And they laughed together. "Seriously, I'm gaining so much weight that I'm scared I'll be obese on my wedding!" Rachel lightly slapped his arm. "I agree, Sam is my best friend for all those reasons." He replied and she sighed once more.

"I can't do this. Not right now." Rachel whispered. "It's too soon. Right?" She ended, unsure. Blaine gave her an understanding look and shook his head.

"That is up to you. Rachel, the truth is that we all want you to be happy. And I'm sure Finn would want that too." He said, his voice very low. "So if you're scared of how we will react, just know you have our support. Always." And he hugged her.

"Thank you, Blaine." She told him after some minutes. "I don't know how long is soon, but I know I'm not ready for anything like that yet." He nodded quietly. "Anyway, this is all pointless." Rachel said as she stood up, ready to go to bed. "It's not like Sam sees me that way."

"Except that he does." Blaine whispered. The reaction was exactly what he expected from her. Rachel gasped, sat down next to him again, took both of his hands and, with reddened cheeks and wide eyes, she directed her most intense gaze at him.

"Explain." She said.

"Sam has feelings for you." Was all he told her, suddenly feeling bad. Sam had trusted him with his secret and there was, spilling it to Rachel herself. "Look, he's obviously not going to do anything about it. He knows this isn't the right time. And he cares about you. I just… You should know." Blaine finished. Rachel slowly nodded.

"Thank you." She replied, looking at nowhere in particular. "I need to think about this. I promised I'd go with him to that other agency tomorrow and I'm not breaking that promise. But maybe after that, I should keep some distance."

Before Blaine could say anything else, she had stood up and gone to her bedroom, barely remembering to wish him a good night. He sighed.

* * *

True to her word, Rachel woke up early the next day, ready to go with Sam to the agency Kurt had found for him. Despite the fact she knew she should avoid much contact, she couldn't help but lightly touch his arm as she thanked him for the delicious breakfast he had made them.

They quickly got to the train and found the agency. Sam was nervous about the meeting, and ended up rambling during the whole ride. Rachel was grateful for that, as it meant she didn't have to say anything. She didn't trust herself with words at that moment.

"I mean, what if they don't like my lips? Do my cheeks look puffy? I shouldn't have got my hair cut. I didn't even work out last night, that was so stupid, what if I lose my abs?" He was speaking under his breath and Rachel wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself, but that made her chuckle.

"Sam." She called his name as he got ready to enter the building. He turned his attention to her, looking slightly surprised he wasn't alone. Before she could stop herself, Rachel took his hand. "Take a deep breath. Your lips are cute." She felt her face burning, but ignored that physical reaction. She was simply being there for her friend. That was all. "Your cheeks are perfect. Honestly, you look much better with short hair. And I'm sure you won't lose your abs in five minutes." Rachel squeezed his hand and then let it go. "Now get in there and show them you can be an amazing model!"

"Thanks." He replied, a smile on his face. Once he was gone, Rachel held a very strong urge to slap herself. Had she really told him his lips were cute? Why had she held his hand? Everything was wrong and complicated. Frowning, she wished she could talk to Kurt. She needed her best friend.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Sam left the building, looking miserable. Rachel forgot to breathe for a few seconds, worried about what had happened there. He found her and they walked towards each other. When they finally met, he sighed and Rachel quickly hugged him, everything else forgotten for the moment. Then, to her surprise, Sam started spinning while holding her and laughing.

"They loved me!" He shouted as he started spinning faster. "I'm going to be on a perfume ad!" And his happiness was too contagious, making Rachel laugh as well.

"That is amazing, Sam!" She shouted back and he finally stopped moving. They were both dizzy, grinning like maniacs and Rachel didn't even want to think of how insane her hair probably looked. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you so much, Rachel." Sam replied, his tone serious. He hugged her, this time without moving around. She buried her face on his shoulder for the seconds that they held each other. Then, he let her go slowly and they found themselves staring at each other's eyes, their noses one inch apart. Rachel knew he could feel her breath on his lips, since she could feel his on hers.

"You're welcome." She whispered, right before taking one step back and looking at her feet. "I need to go to rehearsal now, I'll see you at home, Sam." Rachel mumbled before turning around and leaving as quickly as her legs would carry her.

"Crap."

* * *

Blaine was waiting for Kurt to be online on Skype so that they could talk. They had been away from each other for one day, but it had been enough for them to miss each other. Blaine's phone started buzzing and he took it.

"Hey, Sam! How did the interview go?" He asked, hoping everything had worked out.

"I almost kissed Rachel." Sam replied. And then silence. Blaine wasn't sure what to say, so he simply sat with his mouth slightly open in shock. "Dude. I almost kissed Rachel. Rachel. I… She was standing there and I hugged her. And then… I almost. I almost kissed her." He sounded like he was in physical pain. "I messed up, I messed up so bad, what do I do?"

"I… What did Rachel do?" Blaine wondered and Sam humourlessly and bitterly chuckled in response.

"She left. Turned around and walked as fast as she could." He sighed. Blaine shook his head, even though his friend couldn't see him. "She hates me."

"She likes you. The same way you like her." He quietly said, not wanting Sam to misunderstand the situation. And then, more silence.

"What?" Sam finally asked. "She…" He stopped speaking, unsure if he should say it.

"Kurt told me before he left to Paris." Blaine answered. "But she's not ready for it, Sam. You need to give her some space. Give her some time."

"I can't stay there anymore, Blaine, I can't." Sam rambled. "I mean, what would Finn say?" He whispered.

"Sam. I talked to Rachel last night and I'll tell you what I told her." Blaine spoke softly. "Finn would want her to be happy. And you too, you were friends. I don't think, even for a second, he'd want you or Rachel to suffer alone. That was not who he was." He paused for a few seconds to let his words sink in. "Look, give her a few days to think about what happened. You know Rachel, she's dramatic about what she has for breakfast every morning, so she going to need some time to process that you two almost kissed." Then, he saw that Kurt was online. "Listen, I have to go, but we'll talk more when you get home."

* * *

Three days later, things were still stiff around the loft. Rachel tried her best to spend time by herself, so that she could avoid Sam. Blaine had tried to talk to her, but she been very good at deflecting and leaving the room before they could blink. Santana arrived back from Detroit to find Sam sitting by himself.

"Santana! You're back!" He smiled at her, standing up to take her bag. "How is Dani?"

"She's better now." She replied as she sat down on the couch. "She's not coming back until next week, I think. We're saving the big talk for later." Santana sighed, looking very upset. Sam patter her in the back.

"Big talk, huh?" He repeated. "Sounds scary. But I'm sure you two will figure everything out." Sam added, trying to cheer her up, but Santana simply shook her head.

"We'll see, Trouty. Anyway, what did I miss?" She asked, not really paying attention to him. He shrugged.

"I got a gig." When that made her look at him surprised, he added: "Perfume ad. I guess I look like I smell good." And Sam winked, making Santana roll her eyes, but then she smiled at him.

"That actually is good news." She said. "I bet Rachel and Blaine threw you a boring, lame Broadway party to celebrate." Santana chuckled, but when she saw the look on Sam's face after she had mentioned Rachel's name, she turned serious. "What? What _did_ I miss?"

Sam sighed and looked away, not in the mood for sharing what had happened with Santana. However, when he tried to stand up to leave, she pulled his arm so hard he was afraid she had broken it. One stern look from her and he nodded.

"Fine. I almost kissed Rachel because I like her and now she won't even look me in the eye. Happy?" He blurted out, standing up again. Santana didn't try to stop him again, but she stood up too.

"You did what?" She asked, her voice low and menacing. Sam gulped. Then, to his surprise, Santana started laughing. "I can't believe I missed that! It must've been hilarious! I can just imagine the look on her face!"

Sam didn't laugh, since he could still remember the hurt on Rachel's face whenever they were in the same room. After a few seconds, Santana noticed how gloomy he looked and got serious again. With a sigh, she touched his shoulder.

"Don't be like that. She likes you, you know? She just needs…"

"Some time, I know." Sam interrupted her. "Blaine told me that already." He muttered, then he groaned. "I wasn't going to do anything! I knew it was too soon, I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, it just happened!" Sam exclaimed, sounding desperate. Santana rolled her eyes at him.

"Pull yourself together." She told him. "Listen to me. Rachel was crazy in love with Finn and she's still mourning. Someday, she will be ready to date someone again. In the meantime, _you_ have to think if you want to go there. "Santana pointed at him. "Are _you_ ready to date someone that used to be engaged to a friend of yours? Someone who lost the love of her life?" Sam looked down and Santana patted him on the shoulder. "I'm not saying this to be mean. It just really is something you should think about." She added, her voice gentle. He nodded in silence.

* * *

The following days were particularly awkward for everyone in the loft. Rachel seemed to always have an excuse to be busy and, between Funny Girl, NYADA and the Spotlight Diner, she did have many excuses. Blaine, in an attempt to help his best friend, had started to look for an apartment for them in what could only be called a very obsessive way. The fact that he obviously missed Kurt was also something bringing him down. Santana had started meeting up with Elliott as much as possible, looking for someone who could help her get ready for the big conversation she was going to have Dani. Sam had taken to sulking, either on the couch or outside, not interested in where he was.

So when Kurt finally arrived from Paris, instead of finding his friends celebrating his return, he found a very exhausted Blaine, an annoyed Santana, a gloomy Sam and an anxious Rachel. Having talked to Blaine everyday while he was away, Kurt knew what had happened, and so he simply sighed and joined everyone at the table for their dinner.

"You four look so happy." He drily muttered after ten minutes of silence. Sam didn't meet his eyes, Santana raised an eyebrow, Rachel glared at him and Blaine took his hand.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. We've been having some long days here." He said. His fiancé nodded slowly, still watching over the others. Then he shrugged and took a deep breath.

"I have something to tell you." Kurt announced and that finally caught everyone's attention. He waited for a few seconds for dramatic purposes and then he grinned. "I've been offered a new job, as assistant fashion designer!" He exclaimed and they all finally broke out of their apathy to cheer.

"Oh, my God, Kurt!" Rachel shrieked as she got out of her chair to hug him. She ended up having to wait while Blaine gave his fiancé a somewhat long kiss. Santana told them that they needed a bottle of champagne to celebrate and Sam stood up to get it.

"Thank you!" Kurt said as Sam offered them filled glasses, while Rachel squeezed her best friend harder than someone her size should be able to. Blaine had the biggest smile on his face and Santana turned on the radio, looking for an upbeat song. After a while, they finally quieted down a little and Kurt cleared his throat. "But there's one problem." He told them.

"Don't tell me you're leaving to Paris for good, _we_ agreed to stay here for two years." Santana pointed at herself, Kurt and Rachel while also sending him a threatening look and he shook his head.

"No, it's not that." He quietly replied. "I'm definitely staying in New York, but… I don't know if I'm going to accept it. I wouldn't have time to go to NYADA, I'd have to drop out." The others sat in silence, not knowing what to say. "Yeah, so... I'm not sure yet." He finished.

* * *

The next day, Santana woke up and sighed. Dani would be back in a few hours and soon they'd be having their big conversation. Oh, how she was NOT looking forward to it. Sure, she was Santana Diabla Lopez, she was hot, witty and could cut a bitch in half if she felt like it, but that didn't mean she was all that confident. She got out of her room, walking slowly and saw Rachel sitting on the floor, sulking for her own reasons.

"Hobbit." Santana muttered. Rachel nodded, her gaze still lost. "I'm seeing Dani today." She added, mostly to herself.

"Oh." Her friend said, still in her world. Then, Rachel snapped out of it and looked at Santana. "Wait, Dani? Today?" She asked.

"That's what I said, are you losing your hearing?" She replied. Rachel rolled her eyes, but there had been a look of sheer fear in her face for a second. Deciding to let it slide, Santana next in front of Rachel. "Do you think she's going to break up with me?" She whispered, unable to hide her true feelings.

"Santana." Rachel sighed, taking her friend. "Dani is crazy about you. No, let me finish." She quickly said when Santana opened her mouth to say something. "You made a mistake, sure. You should've trusted her and you hurt her. There's no denying that."

"Gee, thanks." Santana muttered under her breath and Rachel chuckled.

"But you went to Detroit to find her. You stayed there to support her. I think that showed how serious you are about her. I have no doubt that Dani saw that too." She finished with a confident nod. Santana wasn't sure if all that confidence was good, but she held on to it from that moment until she found herself in front of Dani's door.

It was time.

* * *

**AN:** Holy writer's block, Batman! Sorry for the delay, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen on this chapter, I didn't know how to write it. To be honest, I'm not happy with it yet, but I think it's time to move on, so... here it is! Hopefully next chapter (which will also be the last one) will be less all over the place.


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